


Rain Works in Mysterious Ways

by FlowerButton



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 15:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5169032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerButton/pseuds/FlowerButton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It begins to rain so Remus takes shelter in a cafe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain Works in Mysterious Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This was a, written at 12 in the morning so excuse grammar mistakes please, and b, written for a friend as we were on a Skype call. It is pointless, silly, and I'm posting it because I want to use this account instead of letting it fizzle out. So enjoy this drabble of a thing!

The door hit Remus as he entered behind the man in the turned up coat and he shivered as the rain soaked through his cardigan. He wasn’t prepared for the rain – when was anyone – and he wasn’t prepared for the rudeness of strangers dropping doors on him either. He shook his hair as the door swung shut against the cold and waited for the rude gentleman in front to undo his coat and pull off his hat before following suit. Wearing a wet cardigan was never comfortable, and a soaked shirt was preferable any day.

The café he had walked in to escape the flood was quaint, with baby blue window panes and a light brown counter. Next to the wooden desk was a display case, offering various cakes and biscuits, each with a different hue of gold or brown. The walls were a light blue also and the floor was made of creaky oak that still shone underfoot.

The rude man was speaking to the cashier and Remus decided to wait for him to finish. He quickly shuffled into the corner, conscious of the other patrons, and slipped into the chair nearest the wall. After a few moments of warming up, he began to stare absent-mindedly at the crowds, hand on his face.

The people outside were scarce, the rain having caught everyone bar Remus at an opportune moment. Those who were out had an assortment of umbrellas hiding their faces, from red and black spotted ones to deep blue cascades that hung around a continent of people. Their scarves matched their coats as they bustled into the tea houses and shopping centres across the road. A car went by at one point, a shiny Vauxhall gleaming from the rain. Remus flinched as the splash hit the window of the shop.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” someone remarked and Remus turned quickly, embarrassed that he’d dozed away. Across from him, leaning on the spare chair, was the waiter, with pulled back black hair and piercing grey eyes. He was smirking lazily, almost toying with Remus’ nerves, and his apron clung to his hips. It was black, just like his trousers, and Remus had to remember not to stare – he’d rarely seen anyone as attractive.

“You could say that,” Remus mumbled as an awful response, and the waiter laughed.

“Oh really?” he teased, leaning towards the table. “I’m a sucker for a ghost story. Tell me it, would you?” He raised an eyebrow at Remus, who moved his eyes from the necklace dangling around the waiter’s throat to meet his eyes. 

“Have you heard the story of Nearly Headless Nick?” Remus wondered, and the waiter rolled his eyes.

“Hasn’t everyone? He haunts the old school building, everyone knows that.”

“The Fat Friar?”

“Haunts the Monastery. Try again.”

“The Bloody Baron and the Grey Lady?”

“Trapped in a theatre on Old Brooks Street when the rafters collapsed. Dreadful, really.” The waiter yawned and stood back up. “Is that all, sweetheart? I’ll get back to work if that’s it.” He went to move and Remus panicked. He reached across the table and grabbed the waiter’s wrist.

“No, it isn’t,” he stammered as the grey eyes turned to him again. “I have…The wolf on the moors, the one that’s supposedly a werewolf. Have you heard of him?”

“That’s not a ghost,” the waiter said, but Remus could tell that he was interested. “Go on.”

“On the moors and in the forest, farthest from here, the one that people call forbidden? The reason it’s forbidden is actually because of a mining operation gone wrong – no, listen, it gets better – there’s supposedly a werewolf hunting there. I’ve seen it. It’s big, with a long brown nose and black holes for eyes. I was on the moors last June, hunting for my friend – Peter – when all of a sudden I heard this howling. It was coming from the trees, and I thought it must be a stray sheep that’s gotten itself lost. I went towards the trees, pushed through the undergrowth and landed in a clearing.”

“This seems generic,” the waiter said, sitting down on the spare chair. Remus glanced around the café and, upon seeing the rude man glaring at them, smiled to himself. He leaned forward and the waiter copied his motion.

“It does, doesn’t it?” he said, drawing this out. “Perhaps it was. But I remember, clear as day, those eyes – it was like two whirlwind abysses sucking you in. The eyes were opposite me, and then the nose protruded from the leaves, and then the entire face and it was grotesque, really, and – I don’t think I can go on, it might upset you.” The waiter was enraptured however and looked ready to murder Remus if he stopped there.

“It shan’t upset me, I’m fine,” the waiter replied. “Please go on.”

“If you wish… I was trapped, wasn’t I, as this huge figure of matted fur and thick teeth emerged from the bushes. It seemed to grow over me, towering like a tree, though it was smaller than any of the other trees there. Slowly, it trundled towards me, one foot forward, then another, then another and soon it was as close as this to me.” Remus moved forwards until he was a centimetre away from the waiter.

“And then?” the waiter muttered, staring at Remus’ lips. Remus smiled wryly, forced himself to ignore the smell of nectarines that this man gave off, and stared into the waiter's eyes.

“And then…” Remus said, leaning his head down and looking up at the waiter through his lashes. “And then-.”

“Sirius, for goodness sake, stop flirting with the customers and get this man his drink! If I have to hear him complain one more time, I'm deducting pay!” cried the man from the counter, a dark haired man with thick square glasses. Sirius, the waiter, jumped a mile into the air and glared at his colleague as Remus leant back and cackled.

“Why don’t you do it, James?” Sirius replied, and James just stuck his tongue out. The rude man from before seemed offended, though Remus could think of worse things to say about him, and widened his eyes as Sirius and James glared at one another. Finally, Sirius relented and stood up, brushing down his apron.

“You best get going,” Remus said, and Sirius smiled.

“I’d like to hear the end of the story though,” he told Remus, who grinned.

“Would you now?”

“Yeah. How about you tell me in two days, at the Leaky Cauldron restaurant at about... six?”

“As in a date, Mister Sirius?” Remus’ stomach fluttered but he kept a wry grin on his face. Sirius flushed before coolly nodding and smirking.

“A date, Mister…”

“Remus. Remus Lupin.”

“Sirius Black.”

“And I’m James Potter, now Sirius hurry up!” called James from the counter.

Remus snorted and Sirius pouted slightly.

“I have to go,” he said.

“I noticed.”

“Six at the Leaky?”

“Two days’ time?”

“I’ll be there,” Sirius said, skirting off to deal with the man, who was now very close to turning puce. Remus smiled politely at him before catching Sirius wink as he left for the kitchen. He flushed, ducked his head and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my [tumblr!](http://the-grape-bowl.tumblr.com) Come say hello!


End file.
